Yeahhhh, it's why I've shifted to just using Postybirb and posting stuff everywhere, even if I personally don't use many of the sites

But that's kinda the age we live in where everyone is a content producer and no one is a viewer

Sometimes it seems easier to just draw for you and not post
I'm convinced that if this weren't my only source of income i'd probably be an artist that vanished out of nowhere.
I used to like sharing my work but it feels like it just goes into the void anyways

Yeah I feel that. I haven't made anything finished since February but even then there's a lot of shit I stopped bothering scanning cuz like who cares?

I've kinda reverted to pre-internet high school me where I only draw when bored waiting for something, just it's on bills instead of homework LOL

Like the entire reason why I became a proper cartoonist instead of just making crap in notebooks that the world will never see is because I was in forums and shit and wanted to share with friends who would read and react to them and like... that just doesn't exist anymore.

Like the best you have is sycophants that want to use someone powerful to bolster themselves cuz like we're all hucksters now, we're not in communities sharing interests we're all hoping we can afford rent through art pyramid schemes and that just fucking sucks hard.

That and the advent of the timeline means that no one dwells on art anymore, all there is is a glance, maybe push a button, and scroll on. Unless you're impassioned which either means pissed off or horny then you'll add a comment but even that's getting rarer now cuz people are sick of each other or worse yet the fucking doppelganger bots like what is real anymore?!

And like... aunno what's the point in posting anymore? Facebook ruined the internet.

I definitely think social media is the cause. Back when I was a kid, sites like DA and FA, and some other misc gallery sites were all we had and we built communities on them. Rp communities, and just general shared interest in original creations. It was so so so fun. Even when I wasn't on those kinds of websites, and I was also just drawing shit in note books I had my cousin to goof around with and I had such a great time. Things were more personal, and we took time to as you said, DWELL on what we/others created.

It was a different time that I don't think we'll ever go back to. I think even if money were off the table, we still couldn't go back to living life at a slower pace. It feels engrained in us to scroll scroll scroll. It's exhausting for everyone I'm sure. It's just sad though that times have changed in that way;;

Yeah, I don't think it'll stop until like, your mind snaps like that coder that overworked himself to the point he lost the ability to code.

It's too addicting, but I think it's also passive enough to where you mind couldn't break. I mean I never lost my mind binging TV, or well, youtube LOL

In any case art is too difficult and too unrewarding so I think I'm personally through.

im a viewer ._.

"But that's kinda the age we live in where everyone is a content producer and no one is a viewer "

damn...i really feel this statement. hits to close to home :(

I feel you there, I get so little faves now and ghosted when people want an adopt from me.

Oh god same
I've been ghosted so many times by clients this year I thought I'm going crazy 💀💀

It’s even worse when you can see that they read your note on here too and then don’t say anything back!

Yeah like at that point just text me back that you changed your mind/something came up and you won't be buying, that's fine!!

yeah, I've lost at least 30-50 sales this year because of this behavior. It's made me go back to one strike policy again. One mess up, then after that I blacklist/block. I've also had to crack down on blank profiles claiming things cause so many are fresh new accounts wasting time :/

I find that auctioning adopts get alot more results when I produced content.
Overall, general stuff is fun if it's mostly comics these days.

Yeah I use to do auction adopts but wasn’t getting many bids then switch to flat price.

Yeah that’s no lie! Posts usually feel like people aren’t seeing what you put out even though following means you WILL see it. So it’s not like Twitter where an algorithm is to blame for lack of engagement or “invisible” posts.

Yeah! Unfortunately the conclusion I tend to draw is "Guess I'm dog at this job!" lol
Oh well, at least my interest in drawing is still in tact. Sharing it is another story

There will always be at least one other who enjoys seeing it.

Honestly... yeah. Ever since i stopped paying for my ad, my FA has been entirely dead :') barely any new watches, my stuff gets like 4/5 faves (shout out to the regulars fr), and just overall it feels so dead compared to a year ago :/

Which sucks because there aren't many websites built for galleries. Everywhere else is so high paced and twitter like, and those places chew a lot of people up and spit them out

I love drawing but I'm not sure I was built for what the art community is today. I can't keep up, and well, I kinda don't want to. I don't want to warp into someone/something I'm not, or draw things I wouldn't normally draw just to keep my head above water. It sucks that it feels like my childhood dream is dying or is already dead.

I'm totally with you there :') I'm at a point in my career where I've already given up everything to this job and it's still not enough to live by sometimes. I've stopped doing personal art entirely because if I waste time not working, then I don't make money; and it sucks because as a neurodivergent person this is literally my only option as a job lmao yet it does everything to push me down and stomp me to death just for trying to survive o(-(

Personally, making a discord server for my art helped me a lot, and while I understand that it can be taxing because it's something far more personal than being on any social media, it also helps a lot to build a community like that.. It's also a quicker way to connect with people, ask for opinions on what they'd like to see, you can send wips of what you're working on or even stream it, and people just kinda vibe with you kdsjfh

I've mostly given up on social media, FA/Toyhouse/Deviantart (sadly) are the only ones i rely on, and while i understand it's bad to put all your eggs in one basket, i really cannot be assed to grow a following on twitter because it's so, so awfully against artists unless you draw very specific things that appeal to people, and even then, idk the art crowd is very dead lately because the economy sucks o(-( overall its been very frustrating lmao

I think people are just quieter in general these days. They're still out there watching and enjoying, though.

You're right
The silence is just so loud sometimes and its easy to forget there are people who do look forward to what you do post

I think the change is that people have gotten used to social media sites and just scrolling through, while FA just isn't built for that. It's a gallery site, it's not as easy to spread art around and gain traction or numbers, so of course compared to places like twitter or bluesky where everything is fast paced and constantly moving it feels empty, and because of that more people move to the social media sites. It's an unfortunate cause and effect where FA comes out as the loser and the only way to even kinda fix it is to try to bring people back.

I wish!
I think a lot of people really hate FA now, so I'm not sure if I could convince people to come back ; - ;
Definitely miss sites where people have to slllowww down, but times are different now

I don't think people hate FA, but I do think that there have been a lot of people who have left FA. I know there have been some issues over the years with people deciding to leave over the way various things have been handled, but it honestly feels like the last safe space I, personally, have left to go. Everything is all about rapid consumption and quick dopamine hits and that makes it really hard to have a site like FA gain new users

It feels horrible to say this but im glad im not alone in this feeling. FA feels so dead I can bearly get people to even lot at anything I post let alone sales. 😔

Ill be boring and tinfoil hat....
I blame Politics.

Social Media - Twitter/X & Bluesky, are mainly popular because we are in an intense political culture climate atm.
And so it has more eyes and traffic. Which is just something you can take advantage of and post your art on to get some of those eyes.

Id support it and advocate you get on the Social Media Train....but they are NOT built to host galleries. Id have to scroll for 5 whole minutes to POSSIBLY find a picture I liked. Also, sometimes you arnt trying to be political, but anything you say could be seen as political and BLAHBLahblahblah.

I wouldnt say FA is dead, but I follow almost 15k people, so my Net is VERY large.
But Ill agree that Social Interaction has died.

Hahaha that's not tinfoil hat at all, its just TRUE

While I don't mind the politics, because they're important, I do miss being in a time where people weren't fighting for their lives and could enjoy things more slowly and peacefully. I know I can't sit and pine over the past though, sadly its another thing you just have to adjust yourself to and figure out what the best course of action is for you Y - Y

It "doesn't help" so to speak, that FA doesn't allow bullying or hate speech while Twitter basically does so people can hope on the hate train and drive up your views while telling you how you're on the wrong political side and call you slurs. The website where people can be more anonymous and ass-holey wins sadly.

Know what...Ill also add, that the job market has been terrible for alot of people.
So its hard to commission.

Oh yeah I get that 100000%
Just a general lack of human interaction in the art community lately feels depressing as hell

There are A LOT of fantastic artists (You being one of them) on this site, i browse it daily and my favorite list is FAT but there is SO MUCH, i have enough artists i like that if i check out of FA for a day i return to about 200 submissions.

It even works the other way too, a lot of artists post stuff like they're on a treadmill and you get 0 interaction, not even a quippy or funny description to the image to get a feel of how they are or anything really, makes it feel less genuine to me, but i do understand why and i sympathize, it's kind of a grind to get noticed, especially if commissions are livelihood which doubly so can suck some of the passion and fun out of it.

Love reading about any OC any artist make and the detailed background lore, or even just how much they love huge butts so they made an OC with a huge butt so they can pose said butt in every angle they can muster, i always wanna see more of what the artist wants and why, no matter if the reason is deep or simple.

Probably doesn't help that thanks to there being a ton of great artists, people get desensitized to quality art and forget that there is just straight up incredible pieces of art that graces their eyes constantly, especially with the current climate of hyper-consumption of media.

You know what? I stopped putting longer descriptions under my pieces cause so many people didn't it made me feel like a tryhard for opening myself and yapping when it felt like nobody really cared anyway
But your comment made me reconsider this

Honestly... yeah I also miss people being more open and wanting to talk about their process or why they made a certain choice about a piece
That's why we crave behind the scenes for moves and such, right?
I think especially as an autistic person it helps me connect and feel less "left out" when looking at other people's art and trying to figure out their creative process

I think it also can help with getting an idea on what to comment cause there's more than the piece itself to reference

So I'll try to remember that the next time I post something
Thank you :]

Hm...

You two both made me reconsider giving up on writing descriptions. I think maybe explaining my thought process could be fun. I have to relearn talking about my art with others on a deeper level because I haven't done it in so long. Its at least a nice way to log my thoughts for my future self when I look back on a piece

I used to try harder to post anything about the piece but my motivation to do so has dipped due to the way things have been going Y - Y
It all kinda feeds into itself unfortunately

But yeah I definitely agree with you

Yeah it does feel like that sometimes.

I do prefer it to social media sites like twitter, but yeah it can get a bit too quiet at times.

Reading the comments feels reassuring in some way because I honestly felt like I'm going insane lately with how little people have been willing to interact with my art
And I was convinced I must be doing something wrong but if other people with much bigger following than me also struggle then clearly it's a wider issue and not just a me issue, right?

Which absolutely sucks and ngl I have the same problem as you where I feel like I wasn't made to keep up with the "content" demand that current day social media expects of artists
I do sorta miss the mindset of how people approached art on deviantart back in the early 2010s, it really felt like a community
But right now even on FA I feel this pressure that people always expect more and more and new but then nobody even really stops to look at your art for more than 5 minutes anyway
I'm just not capable of producing so much art so fast without exhausting myself physically and mentally

And I also dislike this demand that you have to advertise yourself on several platforms at once to expect any success like I just refuse to live that way, it's so mentally draining 😭😭

Okay I think part of the problem is because so many people here do art as a job (myself included) a lot of the space has been commercialsed in a way that rewards quantity over human connection because interactions started to feel very transactional instead of just sharing and supporting each other

But that's not just FA, most social media currently relies on being able to make money off of whatever you create
Which is a double edged sword

Sidenote I'm commenting a bunch cause I'm very passionate about this topic and it landed at just the right time haha;

SPEAK YOUR MIND
I welcome and appreciate reading your thoughts on the matter. Hearing what everyone has to say has made me feel a lot better as well. So thank you

I’ve had zero luck on any sites the past few years tbh. Twitter died when Musk took over, switched to Bsky which was GREAT at first then died down and turned into Twitter 2, and I’m lucky if I get a single comment on here any more. I create art to make human connections, so it’s just not worth it for me any more.

Isn't that the strangest thing? Bluesky was working for a second and then yeah, it did turn into twitter 2 LOL
Though what that has in common with what I miss is that for a moment bluesky was small enough for people to interact with eachother like a community in solidarity of Elon must sucking ass

Eh I have been keeping an eye on your stuff. I know if I want to keep up I have to use the other apps. I wish Bluesky would do notifications

They do have a bell feature now!

I've dipped out on posting art here as often as I used to because it felt like tumble weeds here for the last little while. I'll definitely figure something out. I don't want this site to die because it feels like all we have left when it comes to gallery sites

Yeah... The amount of traffic I get here has dropped off rather sharply the last couple of years...
Result of the times we're living in I guess..

Yeahhh

I know a lot of people quit FA for some reason or another. I kinda just wish we could congregate back here again

Agreed.... Despite it's failings, it's better than most of the other options...

at this point, FA is just a place to archive my art so atleast it exist somewheres. but yeah i feell yeah. i feel like it's hard to grow an audience here anymore.

Real
I need to get back to posting everything again. I do use FA to look back on my old works, because anywhere else is just a pain in the ass
Call me old but endless scrolling is a curse LOL

same lol It's nice to have a place i can look back at my progress as an artist, too i still have art here from 15 years ago as a remeinder where i came from and how far i've gone.

There's a lot I could say on this topic, but I doubt anyone wants to read a book of my opinions! I do think things have changed in a lot of ways since I first came to this site, but in general I think this whole thread shows people are willing to interact. If I boiled it down to two things? I think it's a lack of people starting conversation be that from changing social norms or social spaces not really focusing on community is one thing. It also feels like hyper consumerism and short attention spans have something to do with it, gotta keep that scroll going or some such.

I've noticed this too. My theory, when it comes to FA comments anyway, is that feedback that years ago would have been posted as an FA comment...is likely these days to be expressed on discord, telegram, or some other social media. So people still look at the art, go "Wow this is great!" and say other nice feedback (into the chat window), but that feedback doesn't make it back to FA.

The evidence for my theory is that I've caught myself doing it! Even when I know better, too often I'll gush about a piece in discord and then ghost the FA post, leaving the artist unloved. And I know I'm not the only one.

Not to convince you to leave fa for elsewhere. But have you considered opening a chat room on discord for art fights or drawing challanges? It seems to be a lack of engagement with the community that is frustrating you. Which is fair, but realistically unless the community starts creating fanzines or other fun collaborative events, nothing will change. I think a lot of the issue is that the people who used to do these things for fun have now grown up. Which means they're not as free as they used to be and more specifically they have put their creative efforts of drawing into commissions. Which I imagine burns a lot of the mood out of folks, because it turned into a chore rather than a passion project.

I really love all of your art. I love your original characters. I love their expressions and their proportions and the unique interactions and pairings. I think when you are drawing for you you are at your best. At the same time I love the art that you, and many other artists and creative people across the site, have been able to provide for myself who is unable to really imagine anything.

I love the art that you have made of my sona and it was partially through your art that I was able to feel more comfortable in expressing myself socially and found a partner and mommy of my own (good reference materials can help spark off imagination for roleplayers and writers owo)

I love it when you draw for you. But then again I am a femby into big ladies and adorable boys.. so I am biased :U

I have been feeling like a lot of other places are becoming increasingly alien and hostile to me as a person but I always feel supported here on FA. I think the only thing I can do is be a little more active through engaging in the community here. Especially since my partner has really felt like her art journey and creativity as a furry has really exploded lately and this is incredibly in part to watching art streams and just getting to know and talking to the artists she admires. I think its awesome that stuff like that and a community for sharing it exists.

I think a sense of community can still be recaptured and we aren't going to be overwhelmed but it might ask for us to turn away from heavily algorithm and automation based content for what media we consume. Perhaps really having a morning scroll on the phone is too different from having to get up and start up a computer and log onto a forum and look to see if something got new post finally or was bumped off the first page. Like a single person playing a team game for matchmaking with 10+ other people who they will likely never, by design, see each other again. It's a bit different from having to put together a lobby of eight to ten people and then just kind of like you would back in school split into teams and play for a good competitive spirit but also just because its really fun to play and especially with people you know and can grow with and grow closer with.

Please don't quit

so, i have never been good at social media. i've never really comment, i don't really post (stopped posting here several years ago), and just never got into doing a lot of stuff in general. I log on, fave stuff, delete the queue, refresh. my days are long and i usually end up not around when ppl are actually talking, which is especially annoying fro discord servers i haunt. also the forum style posting seems to take a long time and i don't have an easy to know when i was replied to without seeing the site, so i just assume it's ignored.

I like your art. You've got a great sense of squash and stretch and lighting that I am still trying to figure out. I admire how you draw hair as well! Can't think of a single person who draws tiddies as well as you do. I started watching you to learn some rad painting techniques and understand your perspective on anatomy. I'd be sad to see you stop posting. Regardless of what you choose, you are cared about out here.

For me, it's like my page is dead. Don't get many faves and maybe one comment every four months, if Im lucky. When I first started posting almost 20 years ago, I'd have like 10 to 30 comments. Now, I might get one comment on a pic of mine in nearly 6 months. I do get excited when I do get a comment but it's a reply to a comment on someone else's pic.

I kind of feel like stopping any posts at the start if next year. There's no sense in wasting my time if no one even faves it , let alone a comment. I even thought of just deleting my account and disappearing. I doubt anyone would even notice. If I announced that I was not posting anymore or even deleting the profile, maybe a few people would say something. I used to have a gang that would reliably comment but they've all disappeared. May be they grew out of it or got into a relationship or even have a job where they are working excessive overtime like I did.

My art has gone down hill, and I blame that on my former job which killed my passion. I've been unemployed for over 6 months as I decided that I NEED a year off at least. I was supposed to use this time off to try and learn 3D modeling, especially character but I just can't get into it. The aforementioned job ruined that with 60-hour work weeks for years on end. I nearly had a basic full figure made.

It’s hard for me to say, I’ve been on FA since 2020 and I haven’t noticed much difference in traffic. You’ve been here since 2013, so maybe you’ve noticed a decline. I actually get more likes here compared to other places despite my follower count being lower. Being a furry artist, especially NSFW, there’s not a lot of good places to post. I don’t want to use twitter because it’s become overrun with nazis. I use DA, but I’m not a fan of their pro-AI policy, and finding non-AI art is getting harder. BlueSky is fine, but there’s not a big furry presence there. I used Pillowfort for a hot minute but their discoverability was awful. I know a lot of people don’t like Inkbunny. I checked out Furry Network and it just seemed ancient and pretty dead. E621 isn’t really built for community, and seems catered more for fanart. You can post to Reddit, but again I don’t think it’s a great way to share your work and build a following. Sadly, I think FA is still the best site for furry artists to create a gallery connect with the community.
Everything feels so disjointed. The furry community feels scattered and spread thin. I don’t have a large following and my art doesn’t get a lot of likes, but FA is still the place where I feel like my art gets the most traction. It seems like the people on here are more active and loyal than other sites, even if the traffic numbers aren’t as high.

This website is a relic, and we are old.

All my younger friends use bsky, Twitter or discord for art.

Half my watchlist of artists left fa or vanished entirely.

What brought a lot of people here was the many different artists and their communities. Now it's scattered everywhere.

I do not think people do not comment anymore, I think they absolutely would. I think it's a lack of traffic.

Also a lot of artists justifiably raised their prices in the last couple of years for economic reasons, which also lead to a bunch of people not being able to afford commissioning anymore.

Maybe after Dragoneer passed many people moved elsewhere?

But I've been here since 2006 and I'm still happy to be here, even if it's less active.

I think it's also economic cycles that affect artists and viewers..

People who need money (everyone lately) vs drawing for fun, and people who want to see interesting things or just porn (I'm a bit of both, lots of good art exists, SFW and NSFW)

Are there other options? Yeah.
Are they better? Dunno.
Is FA a more genuine community? I think so.